Turret
Tactical Analysis *'The Turret': Revived through the use of stolen Allied blueprints, the Turret serves to guard Confederate bases against armoured assaults. Not nearly as fancy as the Spectrum Tower or the Tesla Coil, the Turret is still very good at its job, with its 120mm cannon well suited to cracking open the armour of main battle tanks. *'Anti Tank Surprise': The wily Confederates, seeing the effectiveness of camouflage on their other defences, have extended this feature to Turrets as well. Concealed under a layer of camouflage netting and a bit of the local terrain, it usually isn't noticed until it's too late. *'Vertically Challenged': Of course, the 120mm cannon is limited to right and left traverse, which means that it can't be used as indirect fire artillery, nor can it fire at aircraft. Its AP shells aren't particularly well suited to long range bombardment or anti air work anyways. *'Armour Piercing': The other problem of the Turret lies with infantry, who are small and nimble enough to avoid being hit by the large armour piercing shells. The Turret is designed to blow apart tanks and punch holes in steel armour plating; as a result, it doesn't fare nearly as well against other types of targets. Operational History The invention of the MCV meant that entire field bases could be set up in hours and days, rather than the previous weeks and months. It wasn't long before bases were springing up all over the frontline. With the Soviet propensity for tanks, these bases would need to be well defended against any armoured assault. The Allies couldn't always afford armoured support of their own, leaving bases naked and vulnerable to being steamrolled by Soviet tank divisions. The most obvious solution would have been to use anti tank gun emplacements and man portable anti tank weaponry. However, MCVs also opened up a whole range of possibilities. Prefabricated components could be sent to the front and assembled in hours. A concrete base, while not movable like a wheeled anti tank gun or a man with a rocket launcher, offered several advantages. First, durability and protection; concrete is stronger than some flimsy gunshield or body armour. Apart from that, a concrete base provides a more stable platform, allowing a larger calibre gun to be mounted. Such defences could be built to a standard previously seen only in permanent fortifications and the like, defences that would previously take far longer to build. It wasn't too hard to decide what the weapon of this new anti tank defence would be; a gun. No one had invented the Spectrum cannon or proton guns yet; and no one thought to mount a rocket launcher on a base and use it as an anti tank defence. Besides, high tech defences in the manner of the Tesla Coil would have been too expensive to build widely and would require too much power consumption. The simple solution was to use a good old fashioned gun. It was simple, cheap and effective. A large calibre gun mounted on a rotating turret mounted on a concrete base with room for the operator to sit inside and man. Weeks later, factories were churning out prefabricated gun barrels, turret bases and other such components. The Turret was born, and soon became a staple at any base that wasn't crushed under the weight of Soviet armour during the war. The 105mm gun performed decently against most armour, and with a steady supply of shells a single turret could hold out for quite some time. However, the war eventually ended, and the development of Spectrum technology and the guided missile eventually led to the Turret being replaced by such defences as the Multigunner Turret and the Spectrum Tower. The old Turret was retired from service, its blueprints forgotten. At least, until the Confederates found themselves waging war against the Allies. It wasn't too difficult to dig out the old blueprints for the Turret; soon construction templates for Turrets were a common sight in Confederate bases, and now they serve their new operators, blunting armoured assaults just as they did in the last war; the difference being that their targets are now Guardian Tanks, rather than Anvils, and their guns upgraded to more powerful 120mms. The ingenious Confederates did make one change beyond an intended potential upgrade to a larger caliber to them, however. Seeing the effectiveness of camouflaging Pillboxes, the Confederates duplicated the idea for the Turret and the AA Gun. All it takes is some camo netting and a bit of the local terrain (which can be sand, snow, mud or dirt, depending on where the Turret in question is), and the Turret goes unnoticed until it is too late (animals, with their keen sense of smell, however, can still detect these turrets by the operator's scent). Category:Buildings Category:Units Originating from Germany